Searching For The One I Love
by LonelyRobot
Summary: Captured and tortured by the Grounders for reasons unknown to her, Kleo is thrust into the ongoing battle between the Skypeople, Grounders, and Mountain Men. Kleo and Griffin, her only remaining family, escape and become separated. Kleo's only hope for survival is to find Griffin, and pick a side. However, affection finds its way to her heart from an unexpected man. Bellamy/OC
1. Chapter 1

"We're lost, Griffin, admit it!" I gasped, hunched over struggling for breath. "We have no idea where we are."

"We're not lost," Griffin shot back, struggling for breath as well. "Keep your voice down." My cousin searched frantically through the thickening trees, even when we were being hunted down he still let his ego get in the way.

"They're coming!" The Reapers had been chasing us for nearly a day, completely unrelenting. Griffin and I had reached our breaking point – running nonstop with no food or water, in an unfamiliar environment, it was needless to say that we were having a rough time. I grabbed Griffins hand and charged forward, there was nowhere we could go except forward, but it was still better than letting the Reapers catch us.

Our bodies were giving way, exhaustion and dehydration had taken such a toll on us that we were running off sheer will power . . .and even that wasn't getting us very far. The fatigue in my legs was excruciating, if I stopped one more time I would be Reaper food; yet, a part of me was fine with it. A part of me was completely okay with just letting go, of not running anymore. But another part, the part that cared, couldn't bring myself to leave Griffin alone. We had lost so much already, he wouldn't make it on his own.

I clutched my older cousin's hand tighter, making sure that we stayed in sync. No one was being left behind, not again. We were not going to die. However, I think the universe had another idea.

The trees dispersed, no longer suffocating us with their giant trunks and obscuring leaves, and we made it into a clearing. With each step our feet stuck to the ground briefly, requiring more energy to push off, leaving behind a damp engraved footprint. We were close to water. Possibly a river or a lake.

"Do you feel that?" I asked him through ragged breaths.

"Yeah," he nodded his head, keeping his eyes forward and alert, searching. "Water."

The steps were becoming more and more difficult to take as the soil became wetter, we had no energy so what seemed like a simple movement was pure torture. Behind us I could hear the Reapers' screams and howls of conquest as they drew closer to their pray, the light from their torches falling closer on my back. We weren't going to make it.

I looked behind me for a brief second, and in that moment I wished I never had. Less than twenty yards behind us thirty or so Reapers were gaining on us, and building speed. My heart sank, my stomach dropped, time slowed down briefly. It was the first time I had ever experienced dread, despair, adrenaline and panic simultaneously.

"Griffin!" I screamed in horror.

"It's okay!" He screamed back, above the Reapers chants of death, "It's Okay! Don't look back, never look back!" his nails were digging into my skin, breaking the fragile layers and drawing small trickles of blood, but I'm pretty sure I was doing the same to his hand I desperately clutched. "We're close!" he yelled.

I could smell the water and feel the humidity on my face. We were very close. I looked at my cousin and was surprised to see a cracked smile on his lips. Wrinkles formed around his eyes and his dimples, those dimples that made all the girls go crazy, were shining like the stars above us. Griffin looked back at me and jerked me closer to him, causing me to take a double step.

"When I say 'jump', jump!" He said through his smile, the flames of the Reapers dancing on his face. I nodded my head, in times like that I never questioned Griffin, I did whatever he told me to do because he always knew what he was doing. He picked up the pace, taking my left hand in his left hand and wrapping his right arm around my waist, anchoring me to him. I could feel the air shifting around us as the Reapers reached, grasped, and tugged to reach us, only to come up a few inches short.

That was when I heard it. The sound of water crashing against water and rocks and the Reapers slowing down. I felt a heavy mist rush over my face. The noise diminished and it was quiet.

The trees cleared.

My feet were heavy.

And the last sound I heard was Griffins voice before we descended into darkness.

"JUMP!"

I woke up to the sound of laughter, my head spinning, everything was bright and blurry, and my body felt like bags of rocks. I was dead. This was what being dead felt like. I looked through the slits of my eyes, seeing as they refused to open, and tried to collect my bearings. My vision started to clear slowly but surely as I rubbed my eyes, ignoring the pounding pressure on the left side of my head.

"Griffin?" I called his name, seeking his hand in this confusing place, knowing if I was dead, he was too. "Griffin?" I reached out for him, needing to feel his warmth and comfort, but there was none to be found.

I opened my eyes completely, taking in my surroundings. I was wearing a blue long sleeve shirt and some form of insulating pants that were too big for me, but would have fit my cousin perfectly. Above all the clothes I was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, possibly five of all different colors and sizes. The walls surrounding me were yellow and made of a strange material that was some form of thin scratchy fabric.

The room appeared to be a hut of some sort, with a bed that I was presently lying in, along with a stack of fabric and various items and objects, and a make shift chair that had my clothes on it. But no Griffin.

I listened to what happened outside of the hut, but there were a slurry of sounds. But I could tell that there were a lot of people.

Grounders.

"They found me again?" my mind started reeling. If it was the Grounders, then they definitely had Griffin, and this time he would definitely be dead. My heart ached at the thought that it could be a reality. That my only family had been captured in killed, and that I would soon follow after him. My face blistered and warmed to the touch as water began pooling my eyes. I couldn't go through that again, not without my cousin. I'd rather die than be tortured again.

Griffins voice began whispering in my ear as he always did when I panicked. I could feel him rubbing my shoulders and playing with my hair as he always did when I was frustrated, helping me calm down.

"Breathe. Just breathe." he whispered, I placed my hand on my shoulders where I imagined his would be as I took deep breathes and controlled myself.

"Breathe." I said, reassuring myself. "Breathe." My heart rate slowed, the throbbing in my head diminished, and the subconscious shaking in my fingers had gone. I took one last breath and bit my bottom lip before swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, shocks of pain shot up my body as the soreness had thoroughly set in. I whimpered in agony, keeping my lip tight so that no one would hear my scream. The tears I had attempted to hold back finally came through, and continued as I stood up and reached for my clothes and searched for a weapon, but there was none to be found, save for a small wooden blue colored writing instrument that was sharp.

I changed into my clothes, which were still partially wet, and stabbed the strange wall of the hut. I placed my finger in the hole and gripped the material, pulling it apart quickly and rushing outside, gripping the small blue stick in my hand. They weren't going to get me this time, I was not going to die.

Limping as quickly as I could, I stayed close to the tall wooden wall. I quickly realized I was not at the Grounder camp I had been detained at before, it was a different one, and I was sincerely fucked. The hut I exited was right next to a giant metal hut, and I was in awe briefly, having no idea what it was, but came to when voices came from the metal hut and began approaching quickly. I swiftly walked backwards, ready for the people that matched the voice to turn the corner any second and find me and shoot me down with a bow and arrow.

"She's awake." A voice says behind me abruptly. I turned on my heal, pointing the sharp small blue stick at the speaker with my arm behind to me gaining momentum, only for pain to course through my wrist and up my arm to my shoulder as my hand was grabbed forcefully, twisted and pinned up my back and between my shoulders. The small blue stick lye on the floor, stomped in the mud. Useless piece of shit.

I yelled out in agony as my captor spun me around in one quick movement as my other arm was placed behind my back and I was pushed forward.

"She's a feisty one." He said. I could hear a light snicker in his voice as he forced me forward in what seemed to be a meeting circle of the people. They began to gather in the circle, each of them a mix of curiosity, fear, and anticipation, ready for anything to happen.

"Bellamy, what happened?" A woman with long blonde hair asked, exiting the metal hut along with three others as she approached us.

"She attacked me, or at least attempted to, with one of your coloring sticks." The man detaining me said. He forced me to the middle of the circle, holding me as others bound my wrists with rope tightly, and forced me down to my knees. I bit back a scream, feeling my joints and muscles cry from the building strain and exhaustion from the past few days.

"Who are you?" the woman asked. She appeared to be the leader . . .perhaps it was a grounder camp, but they didn't look like grounders. I looked hard for Griffin, hoping to spot his face or something of his that would let me know he was here, but I saw nothing.

"Ni nah ohct latameno aye?" I asked, ignoring the prying eyes. A low rumble of whispers slithered through the camp. But only the woman kept eye contact with me. She was definitely the leader.

"What did she say?" a man with equally as long hair as the woman asked, only his was brown and looked better.

"It's not Grounder." A voice came from within the crowed surrounding me. Another woman stepped forward from the sea of faces, half of her hair pinned up with braids. She stood next to the blonde woman. "Lincoln taught me some of his language, I don't know what she's saying."

"Do you speak English?" the blonde asked.

"No pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye?" I ignored her question.

"Do you speak English?" She asked again, louder this time, perhaps hoping I would understand if she screamed it in my face.

"No pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye?" I replied in the same condescending, my blood boiling, my frantic nature beginning to take its toll.

"Clarke, this isn't working." Bellamy said abruptly, "She doesn't understand us."

"Lincoln didn't understand us either at first," the blond woman responded. Clarke? An odd name for a woman I thought briefly, before she approached and put her face at level with mine. She brought her voice down to a whisper, "Who are you?"

"No pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye?" I answered.

"Who are you?"

"No pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye?" I answered again. Her cheeks became flustered with red and her eyes narrowed at me. The leaders voice began to crescendo.

"Who are you?"

"No pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye!" with all my might I brought my head back and thrust it forward, hitting my intended target right between the eyes. She was thrown back on her ass, hitting the ground roughly and people immediately rushed to her aid. I could feel a warm pool of blood at the top of my forehead, I wasn't sure if it was hers or mine. Clarke got what she disserved, it's disrespectful to be that close to someone and not be family.

"Take her in the dropship and tie her up!" Bellamy yelled, jerking me to my feet and handing me off to two other large men, "I'll deal with her later." His expression was menacing and intimidating; it was my first time seeing his face and something stirred inside my stomach, an unfamiliar feeling that caused me to step toward him, regardless my better judgment. But to others it seemed liked resisting, and an acute pain hit my neck and coursed through my body before I was thrust into darkness once again.


	2. Chapter 2

_This can't keep happening to me, _I thought to myself. Getting knocked out was not fun, especially twice. My body felt strained and extremely sore from continuously running, but there was a new pain. An aching in my muscles from being stationary.

_How long was I out? _I jerked on the rope and metal that held my arms out and rustled my legs in the chains that kept my feet bolted to the ground. _This might be worse than the Grounder camp, at least they let me sit down. _

I was surrounded by darkness, save for the spotlight that shined brightly above my head. The room was quiet and nothing could be seen. I stayed still, knowing I wasn't alone. My enemy was waiting for something, for me to make a move, to slip up and give myself away. But Griffin taught me better than that.

"Lenochi cohwasah!" I yelled, _I know you're there! "_Lenochi cohwasah!"

"When you go out, you go out for a while." A voice came from the darkness, masking his face, but I knew who it was. His footsteps grew louder as he approached; the stirring in my stomach turned inside me as he neared.

"Bell-ah-me." I said. His steps faltered, only briefly before he continued towards me.

"So you do know English." He replied, which seemed more like an inquiry than a statement.

"Bell-ah-me, no pasci nah tu ewah haghtu aye?"

"You keep saying that, but how am I supposed to know what it means?" Finally stepping into the light, he stood close to me, his face in mine. His expression was scrutinizing, his eyes a deep brown that held many demons. His hair was black, dirty and tousled, but the look suited him. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said abruptly, I could see shame flash through him briefly before his expression hardened again. "But, I need information" he added, "And you are going to tell me."

It had been many years since my people had spoken English. Many of our teachers had died, and the knowledge died with most of them. But a few of us did retain what we had learned, and Griffin made sure I never forgot.

"Who are you? What is your name?" He asked.

It was not speaking English that was the problem, it was bringing myself to speak it. As soon as I'd say a single word everything would change, I would not be protected from ignorance. They would interrogate me and torture to get the information they desired. But they didn't seem like Grounders, but I could never be one hundred percent sure, they could have been a different clan. But on the off chance they weren't Grounders, then perhaps I would have been off in better hands.

"What is your name?" Bellamy asked again, disrupting the turmoil of thoughts.

"Are you a Grounder?" I asked before I could stop the words from falling off my lips. Silence became a thick layer of unsettling noise, reverberating off the walls. Bellamy was surprised and shook his head, as if he hadn't heard me. "Are you a Grounder?" I demanded.

"No." He replied finally, "None of my people are."

I looked around the dropship. They were the Skypeople. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I smiled internally, basking in relief. They would help me.

"Where is my family?" I pleaded, "Where is Griffin? My Cousin? Where is he?"

"I don't know who you're talking. We found you on the river bank, alone. There was no one with you. He's not here." Bellamy said.

"No, no, no, he was with me. We were running from the Reapers." The panic began to set in as I started jerking and pulling on the wires that detained me, soon after a door in the ground opened and people began protruding from it.

"Bellamy . . ." Clarke appeared, approaching hesitantly.

"I've got her." He gestured for everyone to stand back.

"He was with me. He has to be here!"

"Why were you running from the Reapers?" Bellamy spoke above the rattling of the chains.

"Griffin!" I jerked harder, "Griffin!"

"He's not here!" Bellamy yelled, "Why were you running from the Reapers!"

"He has to be here, he wouldn't leave me! He wouldn't, he wouldn't . . ." then a harsh reality began to set in. What if the Reapers got to him? What if they reached him right before the Skypeople found me? What if . . .. Bellamy grabbed my face forcefully in both his hands, and brought it to his. His hands were shaking as they held me there, I could feel the weight of his breath on my cheeks, the warmth radiating from his skin, the darkness and pain in his eyes while he stared at me.

"Breathe," I whispered, "Just breathe." I don't know if I was saying it for him or for me, but the tears that had been filling the bottom lids of my eyes finally fell, running streaks down my cheek. The silence was deafening.

"I'm gonna ask one last time, what is your name?" Bellamy asked, stilling holding my face to his. His stillness in his eyes resonated into me, and I told him everything.

"Kleo. My name is Kleo. I am a Desert Nomad that came to this land moons ago with my cousin Griffin."

"What happened to you?" He tried to hide the softness in his eyes behind harshness in front of his people, but failed miserably in front of me.

"We came across a Grounder camp a few weeks ago, they took us captive thinking we were Skypeople."

Whispers slithered around the room. I looked at the group of faces that had suddenly appeared and saw the concern.

"You're people." I added. "They tortured us for answers, but we knew nothing. Instead of killing us they let the Reapers have us. We were running for days, getting away from the Reapers. Then, last night, we couldn't escape them, so we jumped a waterfall. And I don't remember anything after that."

"A Nomad?" Clarke finally stepped forward, into the light. "There are other humans, alive, surviving out there?"

"Yes, many."

"Everybody clear out!" Bellamy released me from his trance, stepping away from me and heading down the whole everyone came out of.

Bellamy POV:

"Do we think she's telling the truth?" Finn asked openly; it seemed like we were about to make another hard decision, but it ultimately came down to Clarke and I.

"I don't know," Clarke looked at the ground as she thought, "When we found her on the riverbank she was alone, and pretty beat up."

"She would have died if we hadn't found her." I added.

"So she could be telling the truth." Octavia chimed. "She's not a Grounder that's for sure. She doesn't speak the language and I didn't find anything in her belongings that told me otherwise."

"She said she was a nomad," Finn responded in disbelief, "she probably knows a lot of languages and just because you didn't find anything doesn't mean she's not a Grounder."

"Kleo is not a Grounder." Octavia replied sternly, "She's been talking nonstop since she got here . . .Grounders don't do that." She pointed out.

"Okay, she isn't a Grounder. She could be telling the truth." I added, "That still doesn't help us decide."

"We can't just let her walk around camp, you all saw what she did to Clarke's head, she's too dangerous!" Finn added.

"But we can't just keep her locked up in dropship!" It sucked being the leader.

"What about her cousin . . .Griffin?" Finn struggled to recall his name. "What if he was really with her?"

"If we find him, he could be just as dangerous as her." Octavia said.

"Not if she's the one that finds him." Clarke finally broke her silence. "If what she says is true, there are a few possibly. He could have died during the jump or drowned. The Reapers or Grounders could have gotten to him. Or he could be alive, searching for Kleo."

"Since he hasn't found her body he probably thinks the same thing about her." I added in.

"And based off how she's been acting I'm pretty sure they wouldn't leave without each other. She's been asking about him nonstop." Said Octavia.

"The way I see it, we either let her go to find her family or we keep her here for questioning." Finn concluded.

"Neither is an ideal option." Clarke gave me a look that I had come to understand over the course of our time leading our people together. She didn't know what to do, and she wanted me to decide. It was always in situations such as that Clarke would relinquish her power, and let me use my better judgment. Little did they know I already had I my made up.

"We are going to keep her in the dropship for questioning, and if I find she's not a threat, then we'll send a small party out to help her find her cousin."

"And if she is a threat?" Finn asked. I looked at each of them and sighed.

"We'll deal with that when it comes." I replied, "But for now, we will take watch rotations and question her. I'll take first watch."

Bellamy's POV Continued:

"So you're a nomad?" I asked, pacing back and forth slowly in the empty dropship. I could feel the tension and anxiety radiating through the floor from everyone that waited below for some sort of news. Kleo nodded her head in response.

"There were many of us . . .once." she choked on her words.

"Now only you and Griffin?" I inquired.

"It's always been me and him." She thought for a moment, contemplating if she should tell me more no doubt. "When we were young our camp was invaded." Kleo looked at the ground, recalling the events, "Our entire village was massacred . . .but they let the children survive. The ones that fought back."

"Why?"

She hesitated before finally looking at me. Her gaze was cold and hard, lined with excitement as if she were animal on the hunt, waiting to pounce.


End file.
